Our Networks,Your Power

Our Networks,Your Power
An introduction to UK Power Networks
ukpowernetworks.co.uk
We are UK Power Networks
We are one of the UK’s largest
with eight million customers
East and the East of England.
It is our job to ensure the infrastructure that
brings power to homes, businesses, hospitals,
schools and other public services continues to
deliver reliable, safe and sustainable electricity
for today and tomorrow.
Basil Scarsella
Chief Executive Officer
UK Power Networks
Our responsibilities include:
• Maintaining the safety and reliability of
the electricity networks
• Connecting new customers’ premises
to electricity
• Extending and upgrading the electricity
network to meet changing needs
Our three networks distribute electricity using
more than 180,000km of underground cables
and overhead lines, and more than 100,000
substations. Laid out, our networks would
stretch several times around the circumference
of the Earth.
From underground cables to overhead power
lines, small rural substations to complex delivery
networks in the capital, we’re working on the
electricity network 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year, making sure the lights don’t go out. Safety
and customer service are our top priorities,
these are at the heart of everything we do.
I hope this brochure will give you an insight
into what we do and who we are. More often
than not, our work goes unnoticed and we are
happy if it stays that way as it means we are
meeting our stakeholders’ expectations.
If you require any further information, or would
like to know how we’re doing, please don’t
hesitate to contact me at your convenience by
email on: [email protected] or
visit our website: www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk.
The numbers behind the power
02
Number of connected customers
8.1million
Kilometres of overhead electricity lines
46,000
Kilometres of underground electricity cables
138,000
Revenue from the regulated business (2011)
£1.2billion
Revenue from the unregulated business (2011)
£0.2billion
Number of employees
5,000
Number of new connections per year
100,000
electricity distribution businesses,
spread across London, the South
UK Power Networks
Northern Power Grid
Electricity North West
Northern Ireland Electricity
SP Energy Networks
Scottish & Southern Energy
Western Power Distribution
03
04
Our values, our vision, our people
Our values guide our employees’ behaviour and form the basis
of our company. Through living our values, our people will help
us achieve our vision.
Our values
• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement
• Diversity and Inclusiveness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Unity
Our vision is to become an organisation
which is:
• An Employer of Choice
• A Respected Corporate Citizen
• Sustainably Cost Efficient
Our people
UK Power Networks employs around
5,000 staff in a wide variety of disciplines
undertaking a broad range of activities.
Although the majority of our people occupy
qualified technical roles in engineering-related
functions, as a stand-alone business we
also employ professional staff in a number
of diverse support areas including Finance,
Human Resources, Tax and Treasury, Health
and Safety plus Information Technology.
What we all have in common is a passion
for providing excellent customer service.
By continuing to invest in the skills and
capabilities of our people, and by ensuring
that they are fully engaged and proud to
work for UK Power Networks, we will deliver
safe, secure and sustainable electricity to all
of our customers and ensure that our vision
becomes reality.
We’ve also got our eye on the future and
each year we recruit apprentices, graduates
and trainee engineers, who one day we hope
will become our new generation of best-inclass employees.
05
Bringing power to your door
Whether it’s powering industry in Norwich, or illuminating homes
in Brighton or London, it is our electricity networks that distribute
the power, regardless of which electricity supplier you choose.
Distribution companies operate and maintain
the electricity networks. If you live in London,
the South East or the East of England, then
regardless of who your supplier is (ie who you
pay your electricity bill to), it is UK Power
Networks’ cables and other equipment that
bring power to your home or business.
Throughout the UK, there are 14 distribution
network operators, each responsible for
different geographical areas, and all are
regulated by the Office of the Gas and
Electricity Markets (Ofgem).
Supply companies buy electricity in bulk from
generation companies. They pay distribution
companies to transport the electricity through
the cables and power lines to homes and
businesses.
There are approximately 20 energy supply
companies who can sell electricity (and gas) to
anybody anywhere in the UK. This means you
can choose your energy supplier regardless of
where you live.
The numbers behind the units we distribute (GigaWatt hours) 2010/11
London South East
East of England
Domestic
7,000 9,000
14,000
Commercial & Industrial
21,000 12,000
20,000
Total units distributed
29,000 21,000
34,000
We distribute approximately
27%
of the UK’s electricity
06
We take electricity at high voltages from the National
Grid and transform it down to voltages suitable for
commercial and domestic use.
Power Station
National Grid
Grid Supply Points
Generates at 25,000 volts
Electricity leaves here at
400,000/ 275,000 volts
Electricity leaves here
at 132,000 volts
Primary Substation
Grid Substation
Electricity leaves here at
11,000 volts
Electricity leaves here at
33,000 volts and is used by
heavy industry
Electricity Cables
Secondary Substation
Your Property
Electricity is transported
at 11,000 volts
Electricity leaves here
at 230 volts
Electricity enters your home
or business at 230 volts
Regional Distribution
Network
Electricity is transported
at 132,000 volts
MANAGED BY UK POWER NETWORKS
07
Our ownership
UK Power Networks is owned by the Cheung Kong Group (CKG).
Operating in 54 countries, the company employs more than
240,000 people worldwide.
CKG has a proven pedigree in running
high-quality utility companies and a track record of
wise investment and long-term plans.
It successfully operates electricity distribution
businesses serving communities in Hong Kong,
Australia and New Zealand.
UK Power Networks Limited shareholding structure
40%
08
40%
20%
How we are regulated
Like all electricity distribution companies, UK Power Networks
is regulated by the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets
(Ofgem), which determines strategy on a range of matters, to
protect customers, promote competition in the industry and
ensure the development of a sustainable energy sector.
As part of this, we hold licences to operate the
electricity networks in each of the geographical
areas we cover and must comply with strict
performance and customer service standards
including the Gas and Electricity (Consumer
Complaints Handling Standards) Regulations 2008.
Our operating costs, investment plans and
hence the charges we make are currently
reviewed by Ofgem every five years.
In addition, our extensive safety systems are
subject to internal and external audits to
ensure continuous compliance with
our accreditations.
UK Power Networks Services is the unregulated
part of our business, which builds, operates
and maintains private electricity networks for
clients with railway systems, airports and large
accommodation complexes in the defence and
commercial sectors. This is a company operating
in a fully competitive market and as such it does
not require a licence from Ofgem.
However, it must still comply with extensive
legislative requirements in relation to
health and safety and the operation of
electrical assets.
09
Networks built to perform
Our networks make it possible for you to boil a kettle at home,
turn on a light at the flick of a switch and keep industry working.
We manage high voltages and transform them safely to deliver
power for commercial and domestic use.
Our job is to deliver electricity to our customers
safely and to get the lights back on in the
event of a power failure. Generally speaking,
power cuts don’t happen very often in the
UK but when they do it’s our job to make sure
they’re as short as possible in our areas.
We’re also responsible for maintaining and
modernising our networks and making sure
that there’s adequate capacity to support the
needs of our customers.
We’re constantly striving to improve our
performance. We do this by investing in training
and research, to make sure we can find and repair
faults quickly, and the safety of our teams and
the public is always a top priority.
We also invest hundreds of millions of pounds
in projects to upgrade and improve the
performance of our networks every year.
Finally, we provide connection services so that
new properties can have an electricity supply.
The numbers behind our networks
London
Kilometres of underground cable
36,000
40,000
62,000
138,000
n/a
12,000
34,000
46,000
Number of substations
16,000
35,000
69,000
120,000
Number of transformers
15,000
34,000
68,000
118,000
£0.1 billion
£0.2 billion
£0.4 billion
Kilometres of overhead lines
Average investment in the network £0.1 billion
10
South East East of England Total
11
UK Power Networks is one of the biggest
connections businesses in the UK with more than
100,000
new connections completed each year
12
Making the right connections
Whether it’s moving your power supply at home, or connecting a
power supply to a new housing development, we support the needs
of our customers. The result is that our network continues to grow,
with approximately 100,000 new connections completed each year.
We are one of the biggest connections
businesses in the UK. Our networks serve
London, the South East and the East of
England. All three areas are home to millions
of our customers and are centres of significant
economic activity.
We serve a wide range of customers,
from major commercial and industrial
developers to highway lighting authorities,
telecommunications companies and
individual homeowners.
Our industry regulator, Ofgem, recently
introduced 32 standards of performance
for connections services. We are delivering
more than 99% performance against these
standards but continue to invest in our
connections processes and systems to ensure
that we maintain the highest possible level
of performance.
Above all, we are concentrating on improving
our service to make sure we deliver the best
possible outcome for our customers.
We welcome the introduction of competition
into the connections market and are actively
supporting companies which want to offer
connections services in our regions.
The numbers behind the connections we complete each year
London South East
East of England
Total
Metered Connections 20,000
13,000
23,000
56,000
Unmetered Connections
6,000
22,000
18,000
46,000
13
Our infrastructure expertise
We also provide the power networks behind major
infrastructure, including in the rail, airports, defence
and commercial sectors.
UK Power Networks Services is the unregulated
part of our business, which builds, operates and
maintains private electricity networks for major
clients so that they can focus on their core
business activities.
We have delivered vital national projects in
the UK for high-profile clients including: BAA,
Global Infrastructure Partners, High Speed 1,
Network Rail, London Underground, Ministry
of Defence, Docklands Light Railway and
Canary Wharf.
We own, operate and maintain the private
electrical infrastructure of most of the UK’s
busiest airports and we are a leading player
in the provision of high-voltage engineering
expertise for rail infrastructure, including high
speed and mainline railways, the Underground
system in London and light rail.
We also provide all aspects of high-voltage
electrical engineering work for a range of private
network owners in sectors including health,
water utilities, ports, education, local authorities,
manufacturing and facilities management. We
carry out operational and maintenance services
to privately-owned electricity networks in large
multi-tenanted properties.
Key sectors
• Rail
• Defence
• Airports
• Power stations
• Hospitals
• Universities
• Ports
• Water infrastructure
The numbers behind our infrastructure expertise
Services Revenue (2011)
£0.2billion
Number of Employees 600
Customer Satisfaction (2011)
92%
15
Every year we answer more than
1.2 million
customer calls
16
Our priority is our customers
Often the work we do to keep your lights on goes unnoticed.
We like to keep it that way. That’s why we put our customers
at the heart of everything we do, ensuring we deliver power
safely and with the high level of service you’ve come to expect.
We’ve been working to identify our priorities
over the coming years. As a new company
we’ve had to look hard at what we do and
how we move forward.
Underpinning our strategy is the commitment to
place safety and customer service at the heart
of everything that we do. We have recently
established a directorate to focus exclusively
on customer services. This is to demonstrate
publicly the importance we attach to our
customers, but also to make sure we provide
the level of service you rightly demand
and expect.
Every year we proactively communicate with
more than 500,000 customers, via outbound
calls and text messages.
Many hundreds of our employees have
day-to-day contact with customers and take
pride in serving you well. You contact us for
many different reasons and we will continue
to invest in customer service training to ensure
that our dedicated and experienced staff can
meet your needs.
Number of connected customers
London South East
East of England
Total
2.3million
2.3million
3.5million
8.1million
17
Our key contacts
Emergencies or power cut
London
0800 0280 247
General Enquiries
0845 601 4516
(Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)
East of England
(Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire,
Cambridgeshire, parts of Buckinghamshire
and most of Bedfordshire)
0800 7838 838
Connection services
0845 234 0040
(Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm)
South East
(Kent, Surrey and Sussex)
0800 7838 866
SMS text service
To find out more information about
a power cut in your area text ‘Power’
followed by your postcode, e.g. Power IP3
6QX to 80876
Our unregulated business
[email protected]
Press Office
We offer a round-the-clock Press Office
service for journalists so we can get the
latest information about our networks
to our customers via the media as soon
as possible.
During office hours: 08701 962 504
For urgent media enquiries outside
office hours: 07623 177 316
A full list of our contact details can be found at www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk
Our management team has a wealth of skills and experience,
and you can find their contact details below:
Basil Scarsella
Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
Andrew Bilecki
Chief Information Officer
[email protected]
Barry Hatton
Director of Asset Management
[email protected]
Nirmal Kotecha Director of Capital Programme and Procurement
[email protected]
Patrick Clarke
Director of Network Operations
[email protected]
Matt Rudling
Director of Customer Services
[email protected]
Murdo Allan
Director of Health, Safety, Sustainability
and Technical Training
[email protected]
Mark Adolphus
Director of Connections
[email protected]
Chris Degg
Director of Human Resources
[email protected]
Richard Roberts
Director of Finance
[email protected]
Stewart Dawson
Director of UK Power Networks Services
[email protected]
Ben Wilson
Director of Strategy and Regulation
and Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
19
UK Power Networks Holdings Limited
Registered in England and Wales with Company Number 7290590
Registered Office: Newington House, 237 Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 6NP
All information in this document was correct at the time of printing.
Some figures have been rounded up so don’t represent exact 2011 data.
v2Nov12